When did Racism Begin?

Racism - Civilization's Dark Stain I

When did racism begin? By Scott Canipe

The racist ramblings of, billionaire, Donald Sterling that were stealthily recorded on audio in May 2014, by his ex-girlfriend have caused quite a stir regarding racial harmony in America. Sure he was set up and did not know that he was being recorded, but that is not the point. The point is that the man harbors racial sentiments against those that are not of his color or he would have never made those statements.

One month later, in June 2014, Janelle Ambrosia of Cheektowaga, NY, shockingly unleashed one of the most vicious diatribes as she hurled racist epithets to an African-American just because he started his car and the starting of the car spooked her children.

She knew that she was being recorded, but it did not deter her. With no shame, in a public setting and in front of her kids she screamed with vituperation, "you're a nasty f*****g n****r." Astonishing!

Why in a pluralistic society, such as the United States and other
Democratic countries, do their citizens possess such racial hatred? Some are so
vivid and open that it makes any decent human being’s blood curdle as witnessed above
by Janelle Ambrosia.

Many of them organize and create hate groups with the intent to propagate
a message of racial purity often times undermining morality and carrying out
acts of violence. With such a global community that we live in, this does
nothing but cause further complications in the advancement of all societies.

The Origins

When did racism begin? The historical roots.

Nazi Soldier killing a Jewish Mother and Her Child

When did racism begin? Certainly, not in Contemporary times. Rather, this curse of humanity has existed
before mankind came out of the cave. It has been mankind's ruthlessness toward
his fellow brother and, sadly, a part of his civilization.

History has shown that there has not been one tribe or grouping of people that
has not, at one time or another, been the object of racism or some form of
opposition just because of its' ethnicity. The following depict some early records to answer "when did racism begin?":

Cuneiform - 3500 BC from Mesopotamia - Approximately 30% of
earliest forms of writing called cuneiform, which dates back to 3500 BC depict
slavery. Through millennia, racism and slavery have typically been intertwined.
Sometimes they are inextricably bound in certain historical scenarios. However,
one that is a racist may not necessarily believe that slavery is morally sound
and vice versa. Be that as it may, one can find recordings and earmarks that
illustrate both in early history.

Aristotle - 323 BC from Greece - the
great Greek philosopher Aristotle stated that “Greeks are free
by nature, barbarians (non-Greeks) are slaves by nature, and they are more
willing to submit to a despotic government.” During this era (fifth
through third century BC) there was a tremendous amount of intellectual illumination.
Grecian philosophical power houses such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle came
from this particular time frame. Many of the Greeks held a belief that they
were enlightened more than the rest of the world and as a result of such bias
must and racism was the result.

Genesis 12:1-3 1900 BC -God called Abram out of Ur of theChaldees - This will make many angry,
however these three versus is the seedbed of racism regarding the conflicts
between Jews, Arabs and other ethnic groups. The most popular interpretation of these three
versus is the foundation regarding why there is so much animosity surrounding
the Jewish people.

Whenever God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees (An area
located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), He made specific promises
with Abram and his descendants. Abram’s name was later changed to Abraham and two of his sons were named Isaac and the other Ishmael. It is believed that through
Isaac came the Jewish race and through Ishmael came the Arab race.

Followers of Judaism and Evangelical Christianity believe that through the seed
of Isaac came blessings and promises. In other words the Jewish people were
specifically targeted and blessed above all other ethnicities. Many refer to
them as God’s chosen people. The Messiah or Savior of the world is supposed to
come through them. Christians feel that he came in the form of Jesus, while
religious Jews are still waiting for the Messiah.

The Palestinians believe that due to Ishmael being the firstborn of Abraham
that they have claim to the land of Israel. While the Jews claim that the land
is there’s due to this particular covenant that God made with Abraham through
his son Isaac This type of thinking has led to cataclysmic scenarios from a
sociological cultural evolutionary standpoint:

Christianity

Judaism

Islam

The diasporas of the Jewish people

The Nazi Holocaust

Favoritism toward the Jewish people

Hatred toward the Jewish people

Zionism

The rebirth of Israel as a nation and May 14, 1948

The eight Arab/Israeli wars after Israel became a nation:

The war of independence (1947 through 49)

The Sinai campaign (1956)

The Six-Day War (1967)

The war of attrition (1968-70)

The war of Yom Kippur (1973)

Operation Peace for Galilee (1982)

The Persian Gulf war (1991)

The Lebanese war II (2006)

These are just a few of the historical narratives that can be traced back to the interpretation of Genesis chapter 12:1-3, where an ethnic group (Jewish people) was shown favoritism and as a result of such has greatly impacted the advancement of civilization from 1900 BC until the present (June, 2014 AD).

Other examples of historical racism include:

Adolf Hitler and the third Reich endeavored to exterminate
an entire ethnic group called the Jewish people.

In 1992, Bosnian
Serbs wage a systematic campaign to expel and kill Bosnian Muslims and Croatian
civilians in which thousands were massacred.

The Ku Klux Klan
intimidated, threatened and murdered African-Americans and other ethnic groups
propagating their ideology of “White Supremacism.”

The Hutu tribe murdered hundreds of thousands from the
Tutsis tribe in Rwanda.